The orange-robed cultivator landed gracefully in front of a fenced yard, which was a few hundred meters below the mountain peak. The air was very peaceful and quiet up here, unlike the bustling crowds below.

The yard had a garden filled with herbs and mushrooms of countless varieties, as well as a cozy-looking cottage with a light wisp of smoke expanding from the chimney. Through a window, one could see a kindly looking old man with ashen skin at a desk, carefully writing on papers with ink and quill.

The orange-robed cultivator rang a bell hung on a wooden post outside the fence. The old man looked up from his papers and walked outside to greet his visitor. When he walked outside, he immediately noticed the young woman holding Eon by the neck.

Shaking his head and laughing, the old man said, "You really must learn to be more gentle with mortals Sophia. That carelessness of yours is going to seriously hurt somebody someday. Look at him, you knocked this mortal out cold."

Sophia lightly blushed, saying "Sorry grandpa, but this time it wasn't my fault, honest. Anthony just got a little overexcited with his scan and knocked this guy out. He should be fine with some rest."

"Well, that doesn't really matter much to me. What does matter is why you have brought him to my doorstep?"

"Ah right, almost forgot for a second. Anothony said that this guy is an anomaly, totally lacking meridians or any energy-related organs. He has absolutely no qi in his body whatsoever, excluding the bit in his lungs and blood from breathing."

"What?! That should be impossible! Why didn't you say that sooner?! Hand him over!"

Before even finishing his sentence, the old man quickly snatched Eon from Sophia with strength and speed impossible for someone else his age. Sophia mentally complained, thinking that when this old man got excited, he was even more careless than she was.

The old man quickly shuffled back into the cottage, and Sophia was left by herself. Sighing, Sophia didn't take it personally, as she had long gotten used to this geezer's eccentric personality. She quickly hopped into the air and returned to whatever business she had been doing before she had been interrupted by this slave.

The old man began to ransack his cottage, looking through disorganized piles of books for a specific book. Finally, he found the one he was looking for. The old man had laid Eon on a chair and bound him to it. He began to compare his findings with the book and write them down.

Eventually, Eon woke up from his "nap" stiff as a board. When he opened his eyes, he saw the old man's eyes not 6 inches away from his own. This freaked him out, causing Eon to flinch back hard, breaking the chair.

The old man wrote something down on his notes before grabbing Eon by his collar and picking him up as if he was no heavier than a feather. Eon struggled a bit in his grip, but it was stronger than steel. This man was quite obviously not a normal human.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The old man tried speaking to Eon, which caused a look of helplessness to pop up on Eon's face. This situation of not knowing the language was becoming increasingly irritating and inconvenient.

Eon insulted this old man, his ancestors, the tutorial, his own linguistic abilities, and the system for not working, dumping him here with nothing of value. The stress of these two days was on the verge of causing him to have a mental breakdown, and this was just an early manifestation of that.

The old man just stared with burning curiosity at Eon while he screamed and yelled. Eon eventually pulled himself back together, cutting himself off with a deep breath. The catharsis put him in a calmer mood, and he began to reflect that his behavior was quite childish and did nothing but embarrass himself. Eon thought to himself that he would need to learn to control his emotions again, acting like this in front of others would only put him at a disadvantage, not to mention the embarrassment aspect.

Eon went limp, trying to convey he no longer had any intention of resisting. This caused a small smile to appear on the old man's face, while some things required a common language to communicate, simple forms of body language were much more universal. The old man slowly let Eon down, and Eon stood in place.

Eon felt that until he learned the language and got a firm grasp of his situation, escaping was nothing more than a pipe dream. Even if he could escape, where could he go? He couldn't speak or understand anything that was said, and it seemed that they had some way to detect when he intruded into a city, as he couldn't see how or why they would find and imprison him when he snuck into town last time.

After a few moments of motionlessness, the old man let out a cheerful cackle before having Eon sit in another chair, though the old man didn't bother to bind Eon this time. Eon sat and tried to relax as his body was probed with the whisper he had felt before, though it was much more gentle than when the white-robed man had done it.

This went on for several hours, and it was only at sunset that the old man halted his probing, a satisfied look on his face. He lightly tapped his bracelet, and in a few minutes, a servant knocked on the door. The old man opened the door and the servant kneeled before him. The old man passed some verbal commands on to the servant, at which point the servant passed over a simple metal band, the same as the rest of the servants wore.

The old man placed the band on Eon's head and chanted a few words. As he finished the chant, Eon felt the band gently meld around Eon’s head, making it surprisingly comfortable. Eon touched the band on his forehead and found that it was warm and completely stuck in place, like it had become a piece of his skin.

At this point, the old man commanded the servant again before going to his room. Eon didn't know what to do at this point when the servant came over and gently tugged his arm. She was a motherly-looking woman, probably in her early 40s.

Eon followed her lead down and around the mountain until they reached what vaguely looked like an apartment building bordered by a few shops and stalls with vendors selling a variety of goods and items, some of which Eon even recognized.

The woman led him quickly through this little market area and into the building. They climbed several sets of stairs until they reached a door on the third floor. She opened the door, and Eon noticed that she didn't have to use a key, which intrigued him. If they didn't have locks, how did they prevent theft?

Regardless, he didn't have much time to think about it as the woman gestured the following motion. Eon walked into the room. It was a fairly average size for an Earth hotel room, being about 12 by 12 feet. All that was in the room was a wooden chair, a wood desk, and a bedframe with a hemp sack on it, little bits of hay sticking out between the threads.